gospel according to john

The Gospel According to St. Matthew (film)

The Gospel According to St. Matthew is a 1964Italianfilm directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini. Its original Italian release title is Il Vangelo secondo Matteo, literally "The Gospel of Matthew", as the atheist Pasolini was uncomfortable with calling Matthew a saint. The dialogue is primarily taken directly from the gospel, as Pasolini felt that "images could never reach the poetic heights of the text." He reportedly chose the Gospel of Matthew over the others because he had decided that "John was too mystical, Mark too vulgar, and Luke too sentimental."

Background

Pasolini had previously been sentenced to jail for the allegedly blasphemous and obscene content of his contribution to the anthology film RoGoPaG. As a reputed atheist and Communist, the reverential nature of his film was surprising, but Pasolini himself said "If you know that I am an unbeliever, then you know me better than I do myself. I may be an unbeliever, but I am an unbeliever who has a nostalgia for a belief."

Style

Pasolini used some of the techniques of Italian neorealism. All of the actors are amateurs: Enrique Irazoqui (Jesus) was a 19 year old student from Spain, and the rest of the cast was mainly locals from Barile, Matera and Massafra (Italy), where the film was shot (Pasolini visited the Holy Land but found the locations unsuitable and "commercialized").

Responses

The film was widely touted in Italy, and proved one of Pasolini's most popular, both with critics and the public. Roger Ebert said in his movie review, "Pasolini's is one of the most effective films on a religious theme I have ever seen, perhaps because it was made by a nonbeliever who did not preach, glorify, underline, sentimentalize or romanticize his famous story, but tried his best to simply record it."

On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 92% certified "fresh" rating.

Awards

At the 1964Venice Film Festival, The Gospel According to St. Matthew was nominated for 3 awards, including the Golden Lion, and won 2, the OCIC Award and the Special Jury Prize.